Behind Shyn Design

I've been making websites
for 25 years.

I'm Silvia Espadas, a web designer with a studio in León, Spain, clients in any country, and the person behind Shyn Design. I started when the internet had only just arrived in Spain, spent fifteen years in Germany working for clients across Europe, and came back to León to set up my own studio. This is the long version.

Silvia, web designer and founder of Shyn Design, in her studio in León
The journey

From the early days
of the internet to today.

I haven't changed trades: I've changed tools. What I learned building web portals when all this began still holds today, because the underlying problem is the same — that someone finds you and understands what you do in under ten seconds.

The early years

When the internet arrived

I started making websites practically as soon as the internet reached Spain. Back then almost nobody knew what a website was for: you had to explain it before you could sell it. That hasn't changed that much.

2001 · Balearic Islands

A portal inside a newspaper

With Euroibérica de Servicios Multimedia we built balearessalud.com: the islands' hospitals, clinics, medical centres, pharmacies, emergency services and associations, all in one place. The newspaper El Mundo / El Día de Baleares signed an agreement to integrate its content into its digital edition.

Germany · fifteen years

Fifteen years abroad

Three years in Berlin and twelve in Hesse. I worked for German, Swiss, Spanish and South American clients: websites, explainer videos, 2D and 3D product videos, ads and an indecent number of intros. That's where I learned to work in several languages and across time zones.

Today · León, Spain

My own studio, working alone

Back in León with Shyn Design for websites and Magnet Videos for video — registered trademark and domain owned. I work alone: you deal with me from start to finish, and the person who answers your email is the person who writes the code.

Portrait of Silvia, founder of Shyn Design
Education

I studied at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya. But what really shaped me were the projects: web design, graphic design, video, 3D modelling and animation, and SEO. I keep learning every week, because in this field whatever doesn't get renewed is out of date within a year.

In the press

Twice
in the newspaper.

I don't mention it to show off, but because it's the closest thing I have to proof that I've been here since the beginning.

Clipping from El Mundo / El Día de Baleares, 6 February 2001
El Mundo / El Día de Baleares · 6 Feb 2001

"All the health and healthcare information on the islands"

The newspaper signed an agreement with Euroibérica de Servicios Multimedia —Silvia Espadas and David de las Heras— to integrate the content of balearessalud.com into its digital edition.

Front page of Diario de León, 15 September 2013, with the "De León al mundo" banner
Diario de León · 15 Sep 2013

"I love living surrounded by so much art"

Feature in the Revista supplement, part of the series "De León al mundo" about people from León who moved to Europe. I made the front page, in the middle of my German years.

The clippings are reproduced small, citing the publication and date, as evidence of my own appearance. The rights to the articles belong to each newspaper.

How I work

Four things
I don't negotiate on.

01

The website is yours

Once the project is paid, the domain is in your name and I hand over the files and logins. No strings attached and no need to ask anyone's permission to move your website.

02

I'll tell you no

If your current website can be fixed, I'll tell you to fix it. If what you want won't bring you customers, I'll tell you before charging for it. I'd rather lose a job than sell you hot air.

03

Fixed price in writing

Prices are published on the website, in plain sight. What I quote is what I invoice, and if something changes along the way I tell you before, not after.

04

I reply within 24 hours

I work alone, so there's no department passing you on to another. You write, and within a day I've replied — even if it's just to say when I can do it.

Shall we talk about your project? Tell me about your business in two lines. I'll tell you what I'd do, what I wouldn't, and what it would cost. No obligation.

Tell me about your case →
Message me on WhatsApp